I’ve got this covered! (no you probably don’t)

I can do it ALL! I own the business. Not only do I own it, but ONLY I can run it.

Right. 🙂

Just because you can wake up at 4:30 am and work like a silly person for the next 19 hours – and do it 7 days straight, 52 weeks a year – and just because you believe you are smarter than any 12 guys you could stuff in a Volkswagen, doesn’t mean you can do it all. Nor should you.

Yes, if there are 24 hours in a day and you can fill them all by designing the logo/hiring the staff/training the staff/providing the service/doing the accounting/speaking with the media/creating the Facebook page/taking the pictures for your Instagram account/fixing the broken door/ chasing your client for his payment/negotiating with supplier A/picking up the “stuff” needed for tomorrow/ doing the 4 interviews for X position/meeting the inspector for your licence approval/finding an electrician/cleaning the front windows/negotiating with supplier B/ talking to the sales rep/writing the agenda for the staff meeting/preparing the staff schedule for next month/ adjusting the PowerPoint presentation/shopping for a new desk chair – replacing the one that broke/taking the broken chair to the dump/meeting the printer to adjust the brochure size/mounting the coat rack that fell off the wall………then good for you! Stay with it. You’re a nifty little goofy person.

Are you really the person who should be doing all that? No, you’re not. You are going to have to DELEGATE. It’s a horrible word. It has CASH FLOW on the ropes for just plain ugly in the minds of many business owners. Yes, I have heard it….“How can I delegate – No one is going to do it like I do it.” “No one is going to get it right”

That may be (partially) true. But just because there was fur flying, lots of commotion, stuff being moved from A to B and still another 19 minutes left in your 24 hour day, does not mean you were effective. There are certain things that ONLY you can do in your business. That is what you should be doing. All the rest may be able to be handled by others. They can be delegated.

I have spoken with so many business owners who have a death grip on every facet of their business. They just can’t let go. They know they should, but they don’t want to. They are afraid. Well, here’s a little secret… You will NEVER grow your business if you believe YOU must do everything. It’s not possible. Steve jobs was a brilliant guy. But he knew what he didn’t know. He knew what he was good at. He hired smart people to do specific tasks and fill specific roles. Then he ‘shot the lights out’. There is no other way.

And if you truly are capable of doing everything, and you are genuinely smart, and you believe that you are ‘all that and a bag of chips’, then TRAIN your people. You know the task or the role inside out. If, in fact, you do it brilliantly, then convey that knowledge. Impart that passion. Be prepared to hold a hand or two. The end result will often be very competent staff who can now take a TON of the smaller tasks that you should not be involved in.

There really shouldn’t be a lot of pride in turning out the lights at midnight (when the business closed at 5) if your 19 hour day was spent inefficiently, doing things you should not have been doing.